Whitechurch Blog: Lets Talk About Money!

2nd March 2020

Sam joined Whitechurch Financial Consultants 18 months ago, since then he has gained a range of experience working with our clients. In this blog, he discusses how Whitechurch can help clients reach their financial goals and the importance of intergenerational planning.

Having been a member of Whitechurch Financial Consultants’ Advisory Liaison Team for 18 months now, I have had the pleasure of speaking with numerous clients, old and new. In my role I am required to provide a Help Desk style service, whereby I liaise with both our clients and advisers. I engage with clients who may need help understanding their yearly reviews (if the client has subscribed to our Focus service), or who need help negotiating through important documentation. I am also in constant contact with our advisers to provide them with briefs for upcoming meetings and generally keep their diaries full!

In my busy role, I have noticed trends and patterns in the way clients react to the performance of their investments and movements in the market. Clients are unafraid to ask the tough analytical questions and seek reassurance from our talented team, that their individual financial plan remains suitable, but can tend to avoid the difficult conversations around retirement, inheritance and long-term care provisioning. What they might feel comfortable talking to their adviser or myself about, they may not feel comfortable relaying to their family.

So, let’s talk about money. We are a family-owned business ourselves and the way we operate reflects this. We understand the importance of succession planning and providing adequate provisioning for both the young and elderly. We also appreciate the sensitive nature of this topic; some of our more senior clients may not wish or have not included their children and grandchildren in their inheritance or care planning conversation at all! What one might consider to be unburdening family members with difficult decisions, can actually have an adverse reaction – leaving people in the dark can be hugely stressful.

Our advisers would implore all our clients to sit down with their children, grandchildren, parents, or grandparents and have that potentially awkward conversation – the implications otherwise can be unwarranted and needlessly expensive. Sometimes assumptions are made or potential tax liabilities are ignored, which can drastically impact the financial plan, maybe even diminish a fund you had earmarked for care fees or to pass on to loved ones. This is a tough discussion to navigate at the best of times and may not be something you have approached with relatives before, but Whitechurch is here to help. In situations such as these, it can often be beneficial to arrange an appointment with all concerned parties and an adviser, to explore all options available. This will allow all family members to be suitably and amicably included in the intergenerational plan discussions, whilst leaving the dry endless engaging parts up to the adviser. It is hard to put a value on peace of mind, but nobody needs additional stress when considering family matters.